Friday, 3 February 2017

Best Actor 2016: Results

5. Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge - Garfield pulls off a difficult role, not only do the the thick accent required but also the overly pure nature of the role. Garfield though manages to make it work giving such an earnest and honest depiction of an unbelievable individual.

Best Scene: "I hear you"

4. Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea - I might not like the film all that much, but Casey Affleck gives a great performance. Affleck manages to give a powerful portrayal by so effectively realizing a man who has come to terms with his grief by trying to become dead to the world.

Best Scene: The Police station.

3. Ryan Gosling in La La Land - Out of these five I'd say Gosling gave the performance that offered me the most joy. This is the type of performance that looks easy, but it deserves praise. Gosling brings such charm, has some impeccable comedic timing, and finds some of the best chemistry in years with his co-star Emma Stone. While being a great old school romantic leading turn he also does offers much more poignancy to the role than you might expect.

Best Scene: The dinner fight.

2. Denzel Washington in Fences - Washington delivers his career best by giving us a theatrical man in grand way, yet not without nuance. He buttresses his larger work not only by offering subtly within the grandeur, but also by showing where it stems from within his quiet moments as well.

Best Scene: The tale of his father.

1. Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic - Good prediction GM. A job well done by the Academy in this category. They managed for once to choose five great performances. If the Oscars go to any one of these men I will be more than happy with it. My favorite for the time being, it's particularly close between the top two for me, is Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen, as per usual, gives a great performance. He goes further than that delivering such a powerful portrayal of this character that in the wrong hands could have gone very badly. Mortensen makes us understand this man, never going for the cheap shots, instead offering a complex and believable portrait of this man.

I was hoping Affleck would be higher because he is currently the front runner and your a fan, but given your thoughts on the film I'm not surprised. At the moment, my ranking would be:

5) Garfield4) Washington3) Gosling2) Affleck1) Mortensen

The alternate leads I would like to see would be:Gosling in "The Nice Guys"Ethan Hawke in "Born To Be Blue"Joel Edgerton in "Loving"Adam Driver in "Paterson"Andrew Garfield in "Silence"

The alternate supporting I would like to see would be:Liam Neeson in "Silence"John Goodman in "10 Cloverfield Lane"Alden Ehreinreich in "Hail, Caesar!"Kevin Costner in "Hidden Figures"Issey Ogata in "Silence"

Yosuke Kubozuko, Issey Ogata, Tadanoube Asano and Liam Neeson in SilenceBen Foster in Hell or High WaterDamian Lewis and Stellan Skarsgard in Our Kind of TraitorSam Neill in Hunt for the WilderpeopleIneson/Scrimshaw in The Witch Alden Ehrenreich in Hail, Caesar!

Does Deng Chao sneak in for The Mermaid, Michael Hui is losing steam for Godspeed, while Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro will likely get snubbed for See You Tomorrow, the former because he did no campaigning and the latter because he has never been nominated, which levels the two surprises as Ka Fai and To will likely sneak in because of campaigning and box office clout, Lau Ching Wan is always a safe bet for a nomination while Lam recieved Best Actor at the society awards, leaving Koo as the other nominee, simply because there has to be one standard leading man in a thriller movie nomination, do any of the other Trivisa actors sneak in, unlikely.

Eric Tsang and Lam Suet are pretty much locks with them picking up nominations from the Golden Horse Awards and in Suets case a Asian award nomination and with Tsang being absent since 2002s Infernal Affairs, he will get in, Liu Kai Chi is very well liked and in an awards bait role, the last 2 are harder to predict, Paul Chun got the Golden Horse nomination but his film has underperformed otherwise, Lo-Hoi Pang (Three) Anthony Wong (Mobfathers) and Alex Fong (L is for Love) keep getting praised for their roles but havent appeared in any BSA nominations so far, it is possible that a newcomer sneaks in which happens often when the others are veterans.

Luke: If Garfield doesn't take the overall for Silence you'll see a rant coming. Calvin: I still feel Garfield in Silence is better then him in Hacksaw. Although 'I hear you' is a career defining acting moment.

Louis: Films to Watch.The Light Between OceansFree State Of JonesMiss SloaneCertain WomenLive By NightCollateral Beauty (I'm not joking, I want to see how much you hate this film)Pete's DragonBilly Lynn's Long Halftime WalkPassengersAmerican HoneyBleed For ThisThe AccountantMoney MonsterEddie The EagleHigh-Rise